15-The Arturia MicroFreak- The Matrix Part 1

Here is part one of a two-part demonstration of the function and application of the matrix present on the Arturia MicroFreak.
This video was funded by the Patreon supporters of Automatic Gainsay. Support the creation of this video and all of the Automatic Gainsay videos that have helped you by becoming an Automatic Gainsay supporter on Patreon!
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The theme music was composed and recorded using only the Arturia MIcroFreak. The drums were programmed using a Korg Triton LE.

[@rars0n]

To me, all these characteristics of this synth is demonstrative of really good, thoughtful design, and very out-of-the-box thinking. Even the keybed, which I know synth purists will hate, is interesting because it gives a different dynamic of play. And honestly, to have this many features in a 300 dollar synth is absolutely mind-blowing. There is no better synth at this price point. There are plenty of synths around that or cheaper that are great. BUT, none of them give you the tonal flexibility of this amazing thing. This is truly a legendary synth design, albeit in a tiny, affordable package. It's just so amazingly well thought-out. A very rare type of synth!

[@DIYTAO]

Also MF is lowest cost polyphonic aftertouch/pressure keyboard controller on marker. Of course it has it's limits (2 octave, capasitive) but the next up is (AFAIK) AMS hydrasynth and that's a lot more. One mistake many make with MF is demo Poly AT with analog filter, which is Mono, missing the point. There are so many other modulation destinations that work much better.

[@pierreb8267]

I bought the device, then came your tutorials, and it all now makes sense. Thank you so much Marc. I can’t wait for the next one )

[@Oooo-bi7bi]

This is gold dust for me. I have been ignoring the matrix as it looks confusing. You have opened the door to a whole new world . Thank you so much.

[@truthseeker3907]

Thank You For Making These Videos on the Arturia MicroFreak Marc Doty! Thumbs up! :) Indiana USA.

[@mousewrangler]

I can't thank you enough for this simple yet highly informative video on the Microfreak matrix. It's really hit the spot for me. Brilliant!

[@jkonrad]

Ah the one I’ve been waiting for. Can’t wait to watch it. Thanks for these!

[@DG-ss1gc]

It’s not only surface area it’s the location you play , top to bottom, You can also drag your finger up and down the key like a violin vibrato One thing to be careful of it’s easy to bump keys with your pinky if your used to piano where it may be touching keys incidentally on chords , that minor tiny little touch will play a full note on this thing. Love the unit thanks for demonstrating the matrix.

[@brokensemitone]

Great video as always. Thanks for the effort you put into this content Marc.

[@automaticgainsay]

Thank you!

[@FreddieShreddieTV]

such a lovely looking synth. just got my head around the matrix. really good with the cloud grains (cycling envelope etc) :)

[@rexterrocks]

Someone said to me recently that they thought the MF got boring quickly. I was puzzled because he didn't say it about his Minibrute and Monologue, both of which are good synths, but which obviously don't have the number of parameters the MF has. It turned out that he hadn't used the matrix at all and didn't understand how it worked. I made him watch this. I don't know about anyone else but I watch all the tutorials on equipment before I get it. I want to be able to delve right in the moment it arrives.

[@silasbrooks2697]

i guess Im asking randomly but does someone know of a method to log back into an Instagram account..? I was dumb forgot the login password. I appreciate any tips you can offer me!

[@silaszayne6343]

@Silas Brooks instablaster ;)

[@silasbrooks2697]

@Silas Zayne I really appreciate your reply. I got to the site on google and im in the hacking process now. Seems to take a while so I will get back to you later with my results.

[@silasbrooks2697]

@Silas Zayne It worked and I now got access to my account again. I'm so happy! Thanks so much you really help me out!

[@silaszayne6343]

@Silas Brooks happy to help :D

[@uglymule]

I just got a MiniFreak and was having trouble understanding the Mod Matrix. Thanks, I get it now! I also understand the differences between the Micro and Mini.

[@acefstripe]

wow, that keyboard modulation, reverse timbre setting around 14:20 was very cool.

[@unclemick-synths]

Great video 👍

[@TJ-hs1qm]

@AutomaticGainsay thanks for showing so much love for the microfreak ;) I have a request for you, if you don't mind :) When/if you reach the utility menu. Could please show us how setting the envelop legato parameter to (on/off) and the lfo retrig to (on/legato/off) actually does affect the sound? Maybe some tips on when to use what would be terrific. I started to play around with those settings but never got any noticeable difference. Clearly I haven't understood what they're supposed to do in the first place. So, that would be really helpful. Thanks a lot!

[@drunkenblaster]

I literally got a microfreak and subbed here today both from a wonderful friend, is this the best place to start in these tuts? I have it connected to my computer and spent an hour and half just playing through most of the presets with a little knob fiddling here and there, man this thing is insane, so powerful. I love the keyboard! Edit Jebus, never mind, I now see that it is episode 15. I blame the bourbon and happy neurons, I am seriously head over heals so far.

[@lonelyswordmusic5651]

Haha have fun man! I got mine a week ago and have been trudging through these videos before I hop back in!

[@valdiskrebs566]

Sooooooooooooooooo many possibilities! 🤔

[@tonipepperoni3424]

Arturia is such a good synth company, they are the best

[@automaticgainsay]

I am so thankful for Arturia’s instruments.

[@tonipepperoni3424]

I have from them the microfreak, microbrute and pigments

[@walrtbstudios5430]

I’m on my second try with this synth- having lost all patience with the first one and selling it- and this is the first time I’ve come anywhere close to understanding the matrix, even though I have repeatedly rtfm with both synths. Another couple of viewings and I might be able to actually use it- thank you! Wanna know the punchline? I have a fully modular setup, and from the word go have found that infinitely easier to comprehend than things (there are others) that ‘mimic’ modular. In real modular you patch a to b and something happens. Here you’re messing with two knobs, flashing lights and an oled screen- seriously complex stuff. Don’t get me started on Drambo (iOS)- suffice to say it’s unusable, and totally unrelated to real-world modular…

[@petercane6376]

I am reading the manual about this freaking thing and it is just so clever. I am trying to understand the matrix board. So its like a Korg MS20 that uses patch cable? We are linking up a patch to go somewhere right? Have I got it?

[@flarfadelic5654]

I'd love to see a video on the CV outputs functionality......that's the only aspect of this synth I haven't explored yet....

[@st0rmchild]

It's just CV/gate and pressure, where pressure is a single continuous value that works like channel (mono) aftertouch. As far as I can tell, if you're pressing multiple keys at the same time, it outputs the highest pressure value.

[@technodrone313]

goiter center just got these back in. now im torn between this and the jd-08

[@qwerwerterytrtyutyuiyuiouiop]

While linking Key/Arp to Cutoff creates the 'low-pass lows + bright highs' effect mentioned toward the end of the video, Key/Arp + Wave and Key/Arp + Timbre are making zero impact on the sound for me. I have tried different presets, initializing, different wave types, and nothing happens. Can anyone let me know if I am missing something? Thanks for the great video!

[@Longuncattr]

Does the pressure CV output take its value from the sum of the surface area covered by multiple fingers, or does it have a key priority?

[@st0rmchild]

As far as I can tell it does not use key priority, and just sends the highest value (in other words, max, not sum) as channel (mono) pressure. It also outputs polyphonic pressure, if your DAW/environment supports it. My primary DAW (Ableton Live) doesn't, but I was able to record the poly AT output in Logic Pro.

[@Longuncattr]

@@st0rmchild Ahh, thank you!

[@prodbyjxff5724]

why is there electrical tape over the words on the display? I watched a couple of videos that have the same thing?

[@automaticgainsay]

It's not electrical tape, it's some protective thing put on at the company that I neglected to take off

[@prodbyjxff5724]

@@automaticgainsay oh hahahahahahahaha i seee lol

[@markwilliamnorth4374]

Those are called points in the manual. They are PATCHES not points except for the 3 user points. A patch has these qualities. A Condition of being ON or OFF (it is already there in hardware and software both) A Source of Modification Matrix Left List A Target that is Modified Matrix Top List AND also three assignable POINTs Its Intensity The Static User Defined PATCH Intensity of Modification The Elastic Modification Defined PATCH Intensity when it is an Assigned Target . Many effects are missed by using PATCHES that are set only at full intensity. Try subtle intensities and modulated PATCHES. VERY COOL

[@lonelyswordmusic5651]

Does intensity mean the amount of the matrix modification to a parameter? Lol I'm sorry it is hard to understand where these "points" apply to

[@ashmuffins6271]

How do you have it connected to your mixer? 1/4 TRS to a split 1/4 TS left right? Or how I'm guessing?

[@st0rmchild]

(I'm not Marc, and I don't use a mixer, but…) it's mono, so in my case I use a 1/4" TRS cable to connect it to a single input on my audio interface. Most studio mixers have mono channels, but if you're dealing with one that only has stereo channels, it might still let you connect a single mono input to the left side and automatically turn that into "stereo". Otherwise yeah, you'll want to use a 1/4" TRS mono to split TS (any connector, but probably 1/4" or RCA). The only time I split it out to stereo is when I'm using it standalone, in which case I run it through a Korg NTS-1 to add effects. The input on that is stereo only, so I go from 1/4" TS mono to 1/8" TRS stereo, which just duplicates the signal on both channels (a bit of an unusual cable, but TRS at both ends wouldn't work, since the MicroFreak 1/4" output is TRS balanced and uses the extra contact for ground). The MicroFreak also has a "stereo" headphone output. The only problem with it is it can be quite noisy, depending on how you're powering the MicroFreak.

[@88keyz]

👍🏾

[@SandcastleTheory]

Can you map modulators to modulators via the matrix: i.e. assign an envelope to control an LFO?

[@ZerryLeppenz]

you can assign any patchpoint on the matrix as modulation destination. that means you can modulate its modulation depth via any of the control signals

[@SandcastleTheory]

@@ZerryLeppenz Good to know. Thanks!

[@siliconbrush]

Allot of roli users end up selling the boards because although its undoubtedly expressive, the keys are indistinguishable from each other. I think this instruments keyboard is equally as expressive but small and flat. I would love to see these expressive style key tech on classic style keyboard with after-touch and pressure sensitivity (on the sensor part).

[@SampathHebbar]

Take a look at ASM Hydrasynth

[@siliconbrush]

@@SampathHebbar Ive seen it, it sounds really good. Ill look at the pdf on it. One thing I like about Eurorack is modules build upwards instead of horizontally. Just starting in that area but it does take MUCH less space then synths.

[@ZetaCarinae]

I'd love a 49 or 61 key version.

[@alphabeets]

Pressure sensing doesn’t seem to work very smoothly.

[@rockhead11]

alphabeets It can actually get a lot more intense than what you’ve heard here. Nothing against Mr. Doty. He makes awesome tutorials!

[@st0rmchild]

Pressure sensitivity is adjustable, and the setting makes a really big difference. It also takes a bit of practice to get used to it. I had trouble with it at first. After increasing the sensitivity to max and spending a bunch of time with it, I find it responds pretty consistently now.

[@st0rmchild]

Actually now that I hear the part you're talking about, I think that was a bug that got fixed in a firmware update. It was never that jumpy/random for me.

[@markwilliamnorth4374]

Techies are stingy with likes? With 9k plus views and only 244 likes. Hey whutsup wid that? I know I am going to view the series multiple times so is that it??

[@OrestLubinets]

Only 143 likes? Not fair

[@technofications3686]

Add microtuning arturia this is not fair

[@richardthayer5907]

LOOKS LIKE A TOY....NO TOYS.

[@automaticgainsay]

Hi, I’m Automatic Gainsay. Welcome to my channel! I typically demonstrate analog synths. I’ve played and owned and had access to some of the best synthesizers in history. My goal is to help people understand the sound and functionality of any synth I demonstrate... and if I demonstrate a synth, it’s because it is something with inherent musical, performance, historical, or synthesis-based benefit. So, whether or not this LOOKS like a toy, it is a powerful and great-sounding synth... perhaps you should watch all of the videos I made to see why! Thanks!

[@8thlvlMage]

Definitely not a toy. It looks different, but the build quality and immense potential is just insane. You're missing out if you judge this thing just by how it looks. (Also it looks awesome too, so I don't know what else to say.)